April showers bring out more than May flowers. They also signal the return of frog and salamander populations, including Vermont's iconic spring peepers. But increased development can mean more hazardous migrations for native amphibians. Montpelier's North Branch Nature Center is training volunteers to help ensure frogs and salamanders that made it through our Vermont winter will survive the trip to their spring habitats.The North Branch Nature Center piloted its Amphibian Monitoring Program in 2005, and has been training amphibian crossing brigades ever since. The center's website states:
During the first warm, rainy nights of spring, over half a dozen different species of frogs and salamanders make a mass migration from their wintering sites in upland habitats to vernal pools and other suitable breeding grounds. Due to habitat fragmentation by roads, a vast number of frogs and salamanders are inadvertently killed each year trying to cross through the traffic.
To learn more about the amphibian monitoring program, and how you can join an amphibian crossing brigade, attend the next free training program at the North Branch Nature Center in Montpelier on Thursday, April 4, at 6:30 p.m.
